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Month: April 2016

In our last post we explained the usage of ” just”, as it is just one of the adverbs difficult to translate into Spanish . We mentioned then that there are more short adverbs with a tricky usage and even trickier translation into Spanish, i.e. only, even and still.

Today we will focus on the meaning and usage of “still” as an adverb.

The most common and easiest meaning to understand and translate is the following:

still : up to and including the present time, or the time mentioned previously (aún,todavía):

Are you still working for the same company?

He still hasn’t replied to my email.

He is still alive.

Nevertheless, still can be used to express the following, more specific meanings:

emphasizing a comparison (even): More worrying still is that it’s only a month away.

saying what remains to be done: I still need to bring it all together.

saying you continue to wait for something that is overdue: He still hasn’t got back to me.

offering a contrasting viewpoint (nevertheless): Still, there was one place that was quite interesting. ( aún asi, de todas formas)

referring to a possibility in the future: That should still give you time to revise your report.

Moreover, where to place an adverb in a senteces sometimes seems to be confusing.

Still usually goes in “mid position”, meaning after auxilliary verbs and before other verbs:

She is still working.

He still loves sports.

When used to emphasize contrast, meaning nevertheless, it is in the initial position ( at the beginning of a clause):

e.g. Still, another option would be to close the restaurant.

To sum up, here’s a nice, smooth song to illustrate its usage at it’s best!